Pope Alexander VI died on August 18, 1503. Cardinal Francesco Todeschini-Piccolomini was elected his successor on September 22, 1503 and took the name Pius III. Thirty-seven of the forty-five cardinals participated in the final ballot.

Pope Pius III died on October 18, 1503 after a short pontificate of only twenty-seven days. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere was elected his successor on the night of October 31 to November 1, 1503, after a conclave of only a few hours, and took the name Julius II. Thirty-eight of the forty-four cardinals participated in the final ballot.

The following cardinals had been deposed and excommunicated by Pope Julius II for their participation in the schismatic Council of Pisa (1511-1512) and could not participate in the conclave:
-Federico di Sanseverino, on January 30, 1512. Pardoned and reinstated by Pope Leo X on December 13, 1515.
-Bernardino López de Carvajal, on October 24, 1511. Pardoned and restored to office by Pope Leo X on June 27, 1513.
-Guillaume Briçonnet, on October 24, 1511. Pardoned and restored to office by Pope Leo X on April 7, 1514.
-René de Prie, on October 24, 1511. Pardoned and restored by Pope Leo X on April 24, 1514.

Pope Leo X died on December 1, 1521. Cardinal Adriaan Florenszoon Dedel was elected his successor on January 9, 1522 and took the name Adrian VI. Thirty-nine of the forty-nine cardinals took part in the conclave. One of the absentees was the newly elected pope. This was not only the last election of a non-Italian to the Apostolic See until the choice of John Paul II on October 16, 1978, but also the last time a cardinal who was absent from the conclave was elected. In addition, there was one cardinal, Adriano di Castello, who had been deposed from office on July 5, 1518, for his part in the Petrucci Plot to murder Pope Leo X. He died during the sede vacante while on his way to Rome to appeal to the cardinals in conclave for his reinstatement as an elector. Cardinal Domenico Grimani had to leave the conclave on December 31, 1521.

Pope Adrian VI died in Rome on September 14, 1523. Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was elected his successor on November 19, 1523 and took the name Clement VII. Thirty-eight of the forty-five cardinals took part in the final ballot.

Pope Clement VII died on September 25, 1534. Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, seniore, was elected his successor on October 13, 1534 and took the name Paul III. Thirty-three of the forty-six cardinals took part in the final ballot.

Paul III died on November 10, 1549. Cardinal Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte was elected his successor on February 7, 1550 and took the name Julius III. Fifty-one of the fifty-four cardinals entered the conclave but two left the conclave because of illness and died before the election of the new pope: Ennio Filonardi and Niccolò Ridolfi.

Pope Julius III died on March 23, 1555. Cardinal Marcello Cervini was elected his successor on April 9, 1555, proclaimed on the following day, and took the name Marcellus II. Fifty-three of the fifty-seven cardinals participated in the conclave.

Pope Marcellus II died on April 30, 1555 after a pontificate of only twenty-one days. Cardinal Gian Pietro Carafa was elected his successor on May 23, 1555 and took the name Paul IV. All fifty-six cardinals participated in the conclave.

Paul IV died on August 18, 1559. Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici was elected his successor on December 25, 1559 and took the name Pius IV. At the moment of the Pope's death, the Sacred College of Cardinals had fifty-six members. Of them, however, four died during the sede vacante: Giovanni Battista Coniglieri (August 25, 1559), Antoine Sanguin de Meudon (November 25, 1559), Girolamo Recanati Capodiferro (December 1, 1559), and Girolamo Dandini (December 4, 1559). Eight cardinals were absent altogether, including two of the four who died (Sanguin de Meudon and Dandini). One cardinal, Giovanni Battista Coniglieri, died on August 25, 1559, before the conclave began. Cardinal Gianantonio Capizucchi had to be absent from the conclave during the month of October 1559 due to a serious illness. One cardinal died in the conclave: Girolamo Recanati Capodiferro (December 1, 1559). Two others, Jean du Bellay and Giovanni Michele Saraceni, left the conclave early on December 25, 1559, before the final vote was taken. Both knew that Cardinal Medici would be elected within a few hours, and neither thought his vote was necessary to the outcome. Of the forty-four remaining cardinals in conclave on the morning of Christmas Day, forty-three voted for Cardinal Medici, who, of course, did not vote for himself. (Notes provided by Dr. Francis A. Burkle-Young, author of Passing the Keys.)

Pope Pius IV died on December 9, 1565. Cardinal Michele Ghislieri was elected his successor on January 7, 1566 and took the name Pius V. At the moment of the pope's death, the Sacred College of Cardinals had seventy members. The number of seventy potential Cardinal-electors on December 9 would be equalled only once in the next four centuries -- in the conclave of 1669 -- and would not be eclipsed until the conclave of 1963. Eighteen cardinals were entirely absent from the election. In addition, one cardinal died in the conclave, and two others attended the conclave but became ill and withdrew before the election. Consequently, forty-nine cardinals participated in the final ballot of the conclave. (Notes provided by Dr. Francis A. Burkle-Young, author of Passing the Keys.)

Pope Pius V died on May 1, 1572. Cardinal Ugo Boncompagni was elected his successor on May 13, 1572 and took the name Gregory XIII. It was the shortest conclave, for, apparently, only one ballot was taken, followed by one accessus. Conradus Eubel, et al., Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Ævi, vol. III, Saeculum XVI ab anno 1503 Complectens (Monasterii: Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, [1923]), 45 note 1, states that fifty-one cardinals voted at the election of Gregory. Verified data shows, however, that there were sixty-six living cardinals in this sede vacante, of whom only thirteen were absent from the conclave. It is possible that the discrepancy of two is simply a scribal error; or it may be that two cardinals -- including possibly Ugo Boncompagni himself -- did not cast votes in the balloting. Boncompagni, of course, would not have been counted in the accessus. (Notes provided by Dr. Francis A. Burkle-Young, author of Passing the Keys.)

Pope Gregory XIII died April 10, 1585. Cardinal Felice Peretti Montalto, O.F.M.Conv., was elected his successor on April 24, 1585 and took the name Sixtus V. Forty-two of the sixty cardinals participated in the conclave. The absence of thirty percent of the cardinalate makes this conclave one of the most sparsely attended in the history of the modern church. Fourteen of Gregory XIII's thirty cardinals failed to attend, a startlingly high number. (Notes provided by Dr. Francis A. Burkle-Young, author of Passing the Keys.)

Pope Sixtus V died August 27, 1590. Cardinal Giambattista Castagna was elected his successor on September 15, 1590 and took the name Urban VII. Fifty-four of the sixty-seven cardinals participated in the conclave.

Pope Urban VII died September 27, 1590 after a twelve-day pontificate. Cardinal Niccolò Sfondrati, bishop of Cremona, was elected his successor on December 5, 1590 and took the name Gregory XIV. The number of members of the Sacred College had been reduced by two since the previous conclave: Pope Urban VII and Cardinal Federico Cornaro, seniore, O.S.Io.Hieros. (+ October 4, 1590). Fifty-three of the sixty-five cardinals participated in the conclave.

Pope Gregory XIV died on October 16, 1591. Cardinal Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti de Nucce was elected his successor on October 29, 1591 and took the name Innocent IX. During the ten-month reign of Gregory, four cardinals died: Antonio Carafa (January 13, 1591), Giovanni Antonio Serbelloni (March 18, 1591), Gian Girolamo Albani (April 25, 1591), and Ippolito de' Rossi (April 28, 1591). This and the election of Gregory reduced the membership in the Sacred College by five. Pope Gregory XIV held two consistories for the creation of five new cardinals. Fifty-six of the sixty-five cardinals participated in the conclave. (Notes provided by Dr. Francis A. Burkle-Young, author of Passing the Keys.)

Pope Innocent IX died on December 30, 1591. Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini, seniore, grand penitentiary was elected his successor on January 30, 1592 and took the name Clement VIII. At the death of the pope, the Sacred College of Cardinals was composed of sixty-five members. Cardinal Juan Hurtado de Mendoza died during the sede vacante on January 6, 1592, reducing the membership to sixty-four. Ten cardinals did not participate in the conclave.

(1) Entered the conclave on January 12, 1592.(2) Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 51 and 68, indicates that he died on February 7, 1592; and on p. 309, that he died on January 26, 1592, therefore during the conclave. According to Ludwig von Pastor, The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages, vol. XXII, Clement VIII (1592-1605), p. 10, n. 1, fifty-two cardinals entered the conclave and they "were the same as those who had taken part in the conclave of Innocent IX., of course with the exemption of himself, of V. Gonzaga, who
had died in the interval, and Giovanni Mendoza. Of those nominated by Innocent IX., Facchinetti was present, and Sega absent... On January 12, 1592, there also arrived Joyeuse, who took part in the scrutiny of the 13th..." He does not indicate that Cardinal Della Rovere died during the conclave. Neither does Gauchat, Hierarchia Catholica, IV, 3, in its chronicle of this conclave.